Dough sheeters for many specific products have been provided including both batch and continuous strip forming devices having automatic and manual feeds. With manual feed devices, caution and great care must be exercised by the operator to avoid injury, particularly the catching and crushing of fingers and hands by and between cooperating dough rollers. This is especially true in the case of dough sheeters being used by relatively young and/or inexperienced operators with the highest incidence of carelessness and inattention.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an example of a dough sheeter apparatus 10 (hereinafter “dough sheeter”) with an added dough rolling attachment 12. Such example dough sheeter 10 is known as a Rol-Sheeter model manufactured by Acme Pizza and Bakery Equipment of Commerce, Calif. Dough sheeter 10 includes a housing 14 having an inlet 16 into which an operator would insert a generally thick piece of dough (not shown) for processing. Once inside the dough sheeter 10, the inserted dough passes between a number of adjustable rollers (not shown) in a manner that flattens the dough into a thin piece of dough having a generally uniform desired thickness. After passing through the internal rollers, the dough exits the housing 14 via outlet 18 where the flattened dough is disposed on conveyor 20. In the example Rol-Sheeter shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flattened dough then passes under the rolling attachment 12 which causes the flattened dough to be rolled into a generally cylindrical shape, such as for use in making a loaf of bread.
As shown in greater detail in FIG. 2, the dough sheeter 10 further includes a safety bar 22 disposed generally across inlet 16 and a central guard member 23 extending generally downward and outward in the inlet 16 above the safety bar 22. Safety bar 22 includes a first end 24 that is generally movably coupled to the housing 14 and an opposite second end 26 that extends through a slot 28 in the housing 14 and is coupled to a shut-off mechanism 30. Safety bar 22 and central guard member 23 are thus arranged in a manner such that if an operator were to attempt to place a hand into the inlet 16 while the dough sheeter 10 was powered on, thus risking possible injury due to the internal moving parts, such attempt would tend to raise the safety bar 22 and thus activate the shut-off mechanism 30, shutting off the dough sheeter 10. However, such actuation of the shut-off mechanism 30 would only occur when an operator attempted to reach under the safety bar 22, thus causing it to move upward. In an instance where the operator reaches over the safety bar 22, for instance attempting to reach around central guard member 23 instead of under, the safety bar would not be moved upward, and thus the shut-off mechanism would not be activated. Such instances commonly lead to injury to the operator.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for improved safety equipment for use with dough sheeters, particularly improved safety equipment that may be readily applied to existing units.